Car-unloader



H. D. PRATT.

CAR UNLOADER.

, APPLlcATloN F|L1-:D1uNE14,1919.

1,346,681 Patented July 13, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

H. D. PRATT.

CAR UNLOADER. APPLICATION r|LED1uNE14.1919.

` Patented July 13, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

H. D. PRATT.

` CAR UNLOADER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14. 1919.

1,346,681 Patented July 13, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 .y

narran arras rare.

COMPANY, or

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION 0F ILLINOIS.

CARFUNLoArnEn,

Application led .Tune 14,

T o all 'whom t may concern:

vBe it known that I, HOWELL D. PRATT, a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Car-Unloaders, of

l which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certainlimprovements in means for unloading cars at terminal points.

One object of the invention is to provide` a simple and effective means .for unloading cars without the use of elaborate mechanism.

A further object of the invention 1s to make a comparatively cheap device for this purpose so that it can be used at isolated points and where a more expensive device would be impractical.

A further object of the invention is'to design the unloading device so that on reciprocating the scoop carrier the material from each end of the car can be moved toward the central discharge point.-

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a transverse sectional View. on the line 1-1, Fig. 3, illustrating my improved car unloader adapted to a car and to a platform at one side of the car;

v Fig. 2 is a side view of a boX car broken away to illustrate my invention; I

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the mechanism Aand illustrating a boX car in section;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view'on 'the line 4 4, Fi 5;

Fig. 5 is a detached plan view of the central discharge conveyer, and l u Fig. 6 is a detached view of the driving shaft. l l

1 is a platform. 2 is a boX car, in the present instance, having an inside llning 3 ex tending around the sides and ends of the car. 4 is a frame, which may be movablelon the platform, and preferably arrangedl so that it can be locked firmly) to the platform in any suitable manner. n the'frame are two drums 5 and 6 mounted on shafts 7 and 8 respectively. Mounted betweenlthe two shafts is a driven shaft 9 around. which passes a driving belt 10 to any source vof power. On ,the shaft 9 is afriction wheel 11, which is arranged to bear upon either of the friction wheels 12l and 13 on the shafts 7 and 8 respectively. 1'4a is a handle Specification of Letters Patent.

- ter of the car,

Patented July I3, 1920.

1919. seriaiiio. 304,210. i

adapted to an eccentric bearing 14 carrying the shaft 9yand so arranged that on moving the handle in one position the driving shaft 9 will ldrive one shaft 8 and if moved in the opposite direction will drive the other shaft 7.

1 5 is a rope adapted to the drum 5, and 16 is a rope adapted to the ydrum 6. rIhe rope 15 passes around a sheave 17 hun from a cross bar 18 suspended by hooks `19 from the top of the car, while the rope 16 passes around a sheave 20 hung from the cross bar 18. The rope 15 passes around a sheave -21 attached to a hook 22 at one end of the car. This hook is so shaped as to engage the lining 3, while the other rope passes around a sheave 23 at the opposite end yof the car and is connected to a hook 24 engaging the line 3. The rope 15 is attached toa scoop 25 and the rope 16 is attached to a scoop 26.' The two scoops are connected together b a connecting ro'pe 27, as clearly shown in ig. 2. By this arrangement, it will be seen that when one drum is hooked to the driving mechanism the scoop is ymoved in one direction and when the handle`14a is shifted vthe movement of thek scoop is reversed, one

scoop moving the material toward the cenwhile the other returns ready to move forward when thel handle is again turned. y N I have shown the scoops delivering into a trough 28 at the eenterof the car,E and a conveyerl moves the ,material along the trough and discharges.v at theside of the carinto a bucket elevator,.hopper,or bin, as desired. In certain instances, where there is a central discharge opening at the bottom of the car, the scoop may carryl thematerial from the .center of the `cai' and discharge ,itl through thel opening.v4 In the presenty instance, the trough 28 l is made in v[cross section,fas shown in.. Figs. 2, 4and 5,; having inclined edges29v arranged at such an angle thatuthe materialpushed by the scoops. will readily i flow pinto the trough. i The trough 28 is carried by two axles 30 and 3'0?v on whichare wheels 31 so-that.-the

trough can be readily moved intoandfout Passing -around as/sprocket of the car.

ico

wheel 32 on a shaft 33 adapted tobearingsv on the frame 4 is a drag chain, or flight conveyer 34, which passes around a wheel 35 at the outer end of the trough 28 and around a guide wheel 36 at the'inner end of the trough. This guide wheel 36 is adapted to bearings carried by the trough. The trough has' an opening at '37, beyond the side of the car, through which the material can be discharged from the trough. The drag chain moves in the direction 'of' the arrow, as shown in Fig. 4 and is driven from the power shaft 9 through a chainx belt, in the present instance.

The invention can be used for removing any granular material from a car,- which can be moved by a scoop and conveyer. The operation is as follows:

The car arrives, loaded, at a station and the load is usually about three-fourths of the height of the car. rIhe car is brought to a point opposite the platform l and the frame 4 is moved into position. If it be a station where considerable material is to be unloaded, the frame can be located in a fixed position' on a platform, when the car is in position. The ropes are carried into the car and the hooks 22 and 24 are attached to the lining, if the lining be such that the hooks can engage it. If not, then screw eyes, or eye bolts, are secured to the car with which the hooks may engage, The cross :bar 18 is then suspended from the roof by the hooks and the ropes laid'out, as shown in the drawings. The trough can be moved into the car and power can then be applied from4 any` source of supply, such as an electric motor, or gasolene engine. In some instances, the motor may be mounted directly on the frame 4.

The man operating the mechanism standson the platform and grasps the handle 14a. If the handle be moved so that power will be applied to the drum 5, then the scoop 26 is drawn toward the center of the car, while the scoop 25 is moved toward one end of the car. The scoop 26 carries material forward and discharges it`into the transversely ar'- ranged trough 28. When the scoop 26 is at the trough, then the handle is reversed so 'that the drum 6 will be driven and the motion of the ropes will be'reversed and the scoop 25 will move toward the center of the car, while the scoop 26 will move toward the end of the car. In-this manner, the material is intermittently carried, first from the vpile at one end of the car toward the center,

and then from the otherend of the car toward the center. Every time .the scoops move a given quantity of material is moved toward the center of the car. As the drag chain, or' Hight chain, ztravels' along `the trough, it carries the material to one side of the'car and discharges it on the outside of the car into a bucket elevator, bin, or other receptacle.v

By this.. arrangement, almost the entire load can be removed from the car without manual labor. After the bulk of material is removed from the car, it is an easy matter to remove the balance of the material into the path of the scoop, or onto the trough for removal.

l I have shown tivo drums and an eccentrically mounted driving shaft for driving the drums, but other means forimparting motion to the ropes may be resorted to without departing from the essential features of the invention.

lvhile I have shown the preferred form of apparatus in which two scoops are used and the ropes extending to both ends of the car, in some instances, the ropes may extend to one end of the caronly and a single'scoop may be used, but I prefer the construction shown in the drawings, as the time consumed in removing the material is considerably reduced. A quick discharge is one of the main advantages of an unloading apparatus.

I claim:

l. The combination in a car unloader, of

a cable; sheaves suspended in the upper portion of the car-door opening around which the opposite ends of the cable pass; a readily detachable sheave at `each end of the car body around which the cable passes; oppositely operating scoops vcarried by the cable, the portion of said cable between said end sheaves being unsupported and resting on the material and servingas a drag conveyer 100 therefor; mechanism for imparting positive movement alternately to opposite portions of the cable; and means for reversing the driving mechanism whereby materia] is ad- *vanced alternately from each end of the car toi'vard the center thereof.

2. Thecombination with a car having a troughrlocated transversely at its center, of an unloading mechanism, comprising two sheaves suspended in the upper portion of 11o the car-door opening; two ropes passing over said sheaves; a sheave for each rope, one at each end of the car having means for quick engagement therewith; a scoop carried by the inner ends of each rope; a third rope extending between the two scoops, the portions of said ropes ibetvveenv the end sheaves being unsupported and forming with the scoops a drag conveyer; means for imparting movement, first in one direction and then in the opposite direction to the ropes whereby material is advanced' from alternate ends of the car to 'said central trough; and means for reversing the driving mechanism.

3. A car unloader comprising two ropes adapted to extend into a car body and to each end thereof; sheaves suspended in the car door opening and over which the ropes pass; other sheaves suspended at the ends of 130 the car-body and around which the ropes ing provided with suspension hooks for pass; connected, oppositelyfacing scoops ready engagement with the car, and a bar carried by the ropes adapted to advance vmaconnected to the rst named sheaves and the 10 terial from alternate endsof the car to the hooks thereof adapted to extend across the center thereof; means for operating the upper portion of the inside of the car-door ropes, and means for reversing the direction opening.

of movement of said ropes, said sheaves be- HOWELL D. PRATT, 

